WD ships SanDisk-infused WD Blue and WD Green SSD

A couple of months ago Western Digital completed the acquisition of SanDisk and now we're seeing the first fruits of this union as WD has officially introduced the WD Blue and WD Green solid state disks. According to what we've heard, this doesn't mean the SanDisk name will vanish. The plan seems to be to keep the SanDisk name for now, so WD will offer SSDs under its own brand as well as via its SanDisk brand.

The WD Blue aims at performance users and is offered in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities, while the WD Green is a slower version that focuses on lower capacities like 120GB and 240GB. Both the Green and Blue lineup ship in 2.5" 7mm and M.2 2280 form factors. The WD Blue disks ship today or $89.99, $159.99 and $319.99, respectively. The Green lineup will become available a bit later, their pricing is still unknown.

Western Digital Corporation (“Western Digital”) (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced WD Blue® and WD Green® solid state drives (SSDs), the first WD-branded SATA client SSDs. The new SSDs complement the company’s industry leading family of hard drives for PCs and workstations, providing a full portfolio of WD storage devices for virtually any application.

The ultimate solution for building DIY PCs, extending the life of current PCs or upgrading existing storage, the WD Blue and WD Green SSDs boast near-maximum speed of SATA drives, best-in-class endurance and MTTF and WD Functional Integrity Testing (F.I.T.) Lab certification, resulting in quick boot times and increased program responsiveness. Consumers benefit from the combination of reliable storage with an industry-leading 1.75M hours MTTF, coupled with reduced power and less heat when compared to HDDs. Both include free, downloadable, WD SSD Dashboard software, which allows continuous performance and capacity monitoring. For consumers who are looking for instant-on responsiveness, durability, low power consumption, and ultra-thin, ultramobile form factors, the WD Blue and WD Green SSDs are the perfect options.

“There is significant demand among our core WD resellers and consumers for a broad set of flash-based storage options,” says Eyal Bek, senior director, Devices Bsiness Unit, Western Digital. “The expansive reach of the WD channel enables availability of a Western Digital SSD solution. We are very proud to have developed and launched WD Blue and WD Green SSDs, and believe they’ll provide the instant-on, reliability and capacity benefits our customers have been demanding.”

WD Blue SSD
For customers looking for enhanced SATA performance, WD Blue SSDs are optimized for multitasking and resource-heavy applications. Perfect in either a notebook or desktop PC, WD Blue SSDs are available in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities, and in both 2.5-inch/7mm case or M.2 2280 form factors. The WD Blue SSD offers up to 545MB/s and 525MB/s sequential read and write speeds, and endurance up to 400 TBW. Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) ranges from $79.00 USD to $299.00 USD and will be available immediately to select customers worldwide and at wd.com.

WD Green SSD
WD Green SSDs deliver essential-class performance, and are a great option for everyday use. Available in 120GB and 240GB capacities, and in both 2.5-inch/7mm case or M.2 2280 form factors, WD Green SSDs deliver an ultra-low power-draw, enabling PC users to work longer between battery charges. WD Green features sequential read and write times of up to 540MB/s and 405MB/s and endurance up to 80TBW. WD Green SSDs will be available later this quarter to select regions and customers.

Both WD Blue SSDs and WD Green SSDs are protected by a 3-year limited warranty.